L'Oréal: The beauty of supply chain digitalization

The supply chain risk management literature differentiates between disruption risk that arises from supply disruptions to normal activities and recurrent risk that arises from problems in coordinating supply and demand in the absence of disruption...

Now in its eighth year, the 2024 IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking measures the capacity and readiness of 67 economies to adopt and explore digital technologies as a key driver for economic transformation in business, government, and wider...

In the 2010s, card processing – Mastercard’s flagship service – started showing signs of commodification as new, nimble players (typically, fintech startups thriving on digital) entered the payment processing space, and customer preferences evolved beyond plastic cards and traditional contact payments. To re-energize its central position and its ability to capture value, Mastercard – as the incumbent – had to make bold decisions. The case details Mastercard’s approach to conceptualizing and building a global platform ecosystem that upholds the principles and design elements of modularity (i.e. interoperability and scalability) and optionality. Today, Mastercard's services, based on application programming interfaces (APIs), integrate with a variety of platforms and offer flexibility to businesses that require customized payment solutions. All along, the company has accommodated a high level of internal disruption. The case also explores the nature of Mastercard’s systematic collaboration with fintechs – players that often started out as competitors in specific parts of Mastercard’s value chain. It describes the company’s engagement with fintechs as fostering collaboration and co-creation and facilitating access; in other words, opening doors and sharing tools with partners. The case presents observations and quotes by CEO Michael Miebach, whose career trajectory at Mastercard – spanning Africa & Middle East experience, fintech partnerships, product management and the CEO role – sheds additional light on the philosophy and values that have driven the company’s transformation to a technology powerhouse and self-described original fintech.

Supply chain management experts Ralf Seifert and Richard Markoff pose the question: is fulfilment still an FMCG core competency?

Improvements in technology have made deepfakes — fraudulent audio, video, and images — easier than ever to create. As a result, 2024 has seen a nearly 60% surge in phishing attacks. These attacks hijack our perceptions and our ability to distingui...

99designs.com is a global platform connecting freelance designers with potential clients. The case study examines the potential impact of generative AI on 99designs’ business model. The platform uses a crowdsourcing approach that invites designers...

As society moves further into the digital age, emerging technologies bring unprecedented opportunities for economic growth, operational efficiency and societal advances. Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing...

When the British Library fell victim to a major ransomware attack it opted for a policy of full transparency. Here we outline what government organizations, NGOs, and businesses can learn from the incident, especially if they rely on legacy system...

Companies need a new, holistic approach to sustainability if they are to head off criticism and accusations of greenwashing.

As the EU enforces the Digital Markets Act, tech giants face strict new rules aimed at curbing their dominance – but critics warn the move could stifle innovation and limit consumer choice.